Are men important to a continuing-client strategy?
Yes. Men can be crucial to a continuing-client strategy. Men are more likely to support continued contraceptive use when they participate. A study in Egypt, for example, found that women whose husbands knew that they had visited a clinic to initiate IUD use were almost twice as likely to continue its use as those whose husbands did not know. Involving men is also important because two family planning methods—vasectomy and condoms—are male methods. How can family planning providers encourage men to participate in family planning? Family planning providers can involve men and serve them better if they take four steps: (1) offer men family planning and reproductive health services, (2) provide men with accurate information about family planning, (3) explain how men can assure their own reproductive health as well as that of their partners, and (4) encourage couples to talk to each other about family planning, as well as talking to health care providers. Programs can encourage men to talk
